For the love of my Godfather
by SonYukiGoku'sSister
Summary: Basically, the title says it all. Yuri and Conrad had an argument which caused them to avoid each other and the rest of the Castle suffer the effects. R&R please


For the love of my Godfather

"Belal," Yuri said through clenched teeth. The venom in his voice spelled danger, "If you start dragging Conrad into this mess," he unsheathed Morgif, "Don't expect me to sit tight and watch."

"Don't expect me to sit tight either!" said Wolfram, unsheathing his sword as well. He chanted as called upon his fire element to scare and attack the soldiers. Where Yuri called upon his water element. Belal had obviously been foolish enough to think he could kidnap the swordsman as well as the Maoh in Shin Makoku itself since Yuri landed in a lake near the border of Shin Makoku.

Conrad knowing the danger near the border, brought Morgif along and handed him to Yuri before instructing Wolfram to safely get Yuri to the castle. After a few miles, Yuri ignored Conrad's warning to go back to the castle with Wolfram, as a bad feeling crept up his spine.

Urging Wolfram to go back, they found Conrad caught and dragged before King Belal of Dai Shimarron.

Once Belal and his few men turned tail and ran. Wolfram sheathed his and turned towards his fiancé and brother, saying, "I swear. It seems every time you both get in trouble I have to..." He stopped, noticing that neither of them were listening or even looking at him. Yuri and Conrad were glaring at each other. Wolfram rubbed his eyes in hope he was seeing things as Conrad and Yuri continued to glare at each other before bursting forth their disappointment.

"I thought I told you not to do anything reckless!" Yuri yelled, where Conrad shouted, "I thought I told you to head to the castle!"

"You could have gotten kidnapped!"

"You could have been killed!"

This was not looking good, Wolfram decided. He was rather glad both his brother and his fiancé avoided each other on their horse ride home. It surprised almost everyone how distant Yuri and Conrad were as they entered the gate. The air about them both were tense as well. "Gwendal," Yuri ordered sharply as he handed Ao's reins to Dorcascus.

If Lord Voltaire was surprised, he did not show it. "Yes, your majesty?"

"Report to the meeting room, afterwards," said Yuri before walking off to his room, Conrad did likewise, followed by Gisela to his room. Gwendal turned to Wolfram then. "What happened?" he asked.

Wolfram looked helplessly at his older brother and told him what happened near the borders of Shin Makoku where Conrad was nearly taken hostage by King Belal. As he finished the story, Gwendal slapped his head and said, "Those two..."

Gunter, who stood nearby, sighed wearily, "Like Godfather, like Godson."

Yosak arrived in time before the meeting began. He noticed the tension between his best friend and his favourite kiddo, warning looks from Gwendal told him not to make an issue of it. Not unless he wanted Yuri and Conrad to rip each other to shreds.

Yuri was drumming his fingers on his desk as he listened to the reports. His dark eyes were hard, as were Conrad's brown eyes. "Doubtless Belal would cause any more problems," Yosak was saying, "On the whole, he probably would know better from now on."

"As well as a certain stubborn kid I know of," said Conrad icily. "Maybe you could introduce me to that child someday, Conrad," said Yuri calmly. Conrad did not speak. Silence rang throughout the room.

"You want to say something, _highness_?" Conrad asked, emphasising the last word.

"Do I have to put you under house arrest?" Yuri asked calmly.

"Highness..." Conrad said with an edge in his voice. Yuri slammed both his hands on his desk. Not even Gwendal could hide his surprise this time. It was something Yuri had never done towards Conrad before.

"Conrad," Yuri snapped, "It's Yuri, and I respect the fact you want to protect me..."

"I respect that you see me as your Godfather!" Conrad reprimanded, upon which Yuri countered, "I need to know that you won't end up killing yourself...!"

"Just as I need to trust you not to nose your way into trouble!"

"I wish I could trust you with your own safety!"

The argument went on until Conrad slammed his fist on the table saying, "There are times when I wish I had a different Godson, one who isn't as reckless as _I_ am."

"Uh oh," Yosak murmured under his breath, the last time he saw Conrad this angry was... just so many decades ago. Not to mention that was the last thing Conrad would say to Yuri. He hated to think of Yuri's reaction as everyone slowly flicked all eyes nervously towards the Maoh.

Yuri's eyes narrowed, until they were a pair of slits.

"Well, Conrad," he finally said calmly, "sometimes I wish the same." There an awkward pause then. Gunter blinked twice, unable to believe that his king and the boy's Godfather who were usually so close to each other were actually arguing about each others' safety. And wishing each were different.

Yuri sat back down again and said, "Meeting dismissed. And Gwendal," addressing the stern adviser, "I would appreciate it if you would bring in the paperwork needed done."

The rest of the day went by quietly as Godfather and Godson avoided each other. While Yuri stayed in his office with Gwendal and Gunter with lessons and paperwork, Conrad spent his time outside sparring with Wolfram and studying in the library.

All three of them, that is to say Wolfram, Gwendal and Gunter, were rather uncomfortable at the quiet atmosphere between Conrad and Yuri. One would think they would be happy that neither are doing anything reckless, but Yuri was more distracted than ever in his lessons, and slower with his paperwork. Conrad, Wolfram noticed was more forceful in their fencing, and more studios than necessary in the library.

Lunch was so quiet that little Greta was looking for refuge from Daddy Wolf to head to the library to which Wolfram consented, while Yuri spent the afternoon signing papers. Conrad wrote his report on Dai Shimarron. The day passed too quietly for everyone in the castle, not even Anissina had the heart to ask Gwendal to be her guinea pig. And Yosak could not get a word edgewise, the castle was of total silence. Not even the horses neighed, or the maids gossip.

Wolfram hoped his koonichan would come and see that Yuri was all right before bed, but to his disappointment, Conrad did not. Yuri left his day clothes on the chair beside his bedroom desk before retiring to bed with his daughter and his fiancé.

Hours later, the blond woke to find his fiancé sitting up in bed, his dark eyes had a faraway look in them. He look towards Greta to see if she was sleeping, then carefully sat up himself.

"You really do love Conrad, don't you?" asked Wolfram.

"I don't know," Yuri answered bitterly, "I guess you could say that, seeing I'm a cheater and all."

Wolfram was shocked by his fiancé's words.

"I know I've called you a cheater many times before," said Wolfram, "but the love you share with Conrad is purely unconditional." He smiled sheepishly then, "Mind you, I had to learn that the hard way."

Yuri returned the sheepish smile before focusing on his feet again. "I worry about him," he went on, "I know everyone worries about me, but..."

"We worry about you because we care," said Wolfram, "I'd be disappointed if you weren't worried about us."

"What am I going to do?" asked Yuri, "I told him to be careful,"

"You could always say you're sorry," Wolfram suggested tactfully, "I'll admit, he nearly got killed, but..." Yuri was silent for so long, Wolfram thought he had made the double-black even angrier. Yuri sighed out of exhaustion and turned towards Wolfram and gave the blond a tight smile.

"Maybe I am in the wrong," said Yuri, he cocked an eyebrow then, "you know what other similarity you have with Conrad and Gwendal? Apart from your smile."

"What?"

Yuri grinned for the first time in hours. "Your stubborn and reckless attitude."

At this Wolfram threw a pillow at him, though he knew his fiancé was only joking. And he was happy that Yuri was back to normal.

"You're reckless yourself," Wolfram stated as he lay back down, allowing Greta to snuggle closer to him. "Get some sleep," he ordered. "Hait, hait," said Yuri, lying down under the covers.

_Meanwhile in Gwendal's office..._

"If you're here for something, just say it," said Gwendal, beginning to be annoyed with Conrad's silence, "I'm sick of that apathetic look." Truth be told, whether Conrad knew it or not, Gwendal could tell something was bothering his little brother, otherwise he would not have stayed in his office alone with him. It was Gwendal Conrad often turned to when problems arouse, it was Gwendal he stayed close to when in doubt, and it was Gwendal he looked up to when he did not know where to turn to. Gwendal noticed this, and often smiled afterwards, thankful that Conrad trusted him.

Conrad huffed a sigh before asking, "Why did I say that?"

"That what?"

"That I wished I had a different Godson than one who is as reckless as I am," said Conrad.

"Was that supposed to insult his Highness?" asked Gwendal, deadpan. Conrad winced at his older brother's tone of voice. Of course, it was supposed to insult Yuri.

"Sometimes I wonder if you inherited that reckless attitude from Mother or Dan Hiri," Gwendal continued, "Besides, you said so yourself, his Majesty's forgiving."

"Remember when I pretended to betray him..."

"Hmph," Gwendal snorted, "He never stopped believing in you. The only thing he wanted was to know why you did it, and talk to you."

"I worry about him..." Conrad confessed to his brother. "I'd be disappointed if you didn't," said Gwendal, "You are his Godfather."

The clock struck midnight, telling them to make their rounds. "Talk to him in the morning," Gwendal suggested, giving his brother's shoulder a squeeze before heading out of the office, "When you're jogging."

"Thanks, Gwen," said Conrad.

"It's my job," Gwendal shrugged.

* * *

Morning came. Conrad arrived the rendezvous earlier than usual and waited. While he waited, he thought about what to say to Yuri, if the Maoh was going to show up at all.

He did.

Yuri approached Conrad, slowly and nervously. Tension hung in the air as they looked at each straight in the eye. "Shall we go for our jog?" asked Yuri finally.

"Sure," Conrad agreed. They jogged in silence for sometime. The arrived in Lady Celi's garden before Yuri stopped and turned to his Godfather.

The staring match started again before both of them said, "About last night..." at the same time. Yuri looked at his Godfather then down to his shoes. Conrad stood trying to get things straight in his head.

"Yuri," he began, "I want to say I'm sorry for the way I acted last night," he paused for a moment, "It was unethical of me. And very untrue."

"Don't worry about it," said Yuri, his softened black eyes looking towards the blue flowers which were named after his Godfather, before turning towards him, "I was rather rude myself, so I'm sorry too."

"I'll try and be more careful next time I'm protecting you," Conrad promised. "I'd appreciate that," said Yuri, "And I'll try not to be so reckless myself."

"Friends?" asked Conrad, offering his hand.

"Better," said Yuri, shaking his Godfather's hand, and hugging him, "Family."

They were about to jog again before Yuri saw a twinkle in Conrad's brown eyes. Before he started jogging, Conrad sprinted, leaving Yuri behind coughing in the cloud of dust.

"Bet you can't beat me at the stables!" Conrad laughed.

"Hey! No fair!" Yuri called, racing after Conrad.

Gwendal noticed this with Gunter and Wolfram and left the paperwork on Yuri's desk before searching for a place to hide.

"Whew," Wolfram sighed. "Agreed," said Gunter.

"Oh, Gwendal," called Anissina's voice.

"Ah, music," said Gwendal before hurrying out of the office to find a place to hide from Anissina.

Author's note: What do you think?


End file.
